Runaway Love
by Lady1Venus
Summary: ARMADA. AlxOp. Hitch-hiking down the highway in the dead of the night was not what Alexis had in mind. But when she finally gets picked up she may be in for more than just a ride


_Author's Notes: My very first one-shot for Transformers...Armada at that. This story is dedicated to KnucklesRedFury as she gave me a high demand....lol...to make an Op/Al fic_

**Runaway Love**

Walking along the highway was probably the worse thing she could do but she felt she had no other choice. She was trying to get away from everything; the memories, the old friends, her arguing family, everything. She could still remember like it was yesterday when her large friends had returned her and her other friends back to Earth. They were going to rebuild their planet and once it was built they had promised they would be back. But as the years began to roll by, things started to change.

The kids had gone back to school and each had quite the lashing from their parents. Luckily the kids came up with a brilliant explanation that they were kidnapped and together they got free and stuck together. They had much catching up to do but that wasn't what surprised them most. It was their cover story, the cover story was so believed that they the talk of the town and were nearly worshipped by every student for surviving such a nightmare.

As time moved on, the town began to forget the heroic kids and life settled back to normal but not for her, she just kept remembering. She would remember nearly everyday as each day passed by. She didn't even bothering to attend her high school graduation when the time finally came. And that's when it really went upside down for her.

She tried to enroll in the local college but no college would accept her. Finally she decided to apply for colleges outside the state and eventually was accepted in at NYU. For four years she studied up on science and technology. She didn't want to get her masters as that would require more years but she wanted to get more of an understanding.

When she returned back to her hometown, she had found a huge surprise. The mayor of the town had ordered miners to do a dig under the mountain. Alexis was horrified as beneath the mountain was a huge alien space ship that crash-landed millions of years ago.

She began to do her best to prevent them from finding the space ship. For if the miners did, her and her older friends would have some major explaining to do as there were photographs and other minor trinkets throughout the ship. When she was finally to convince the town that it was dangerous to mine the mountain, the town polled a vote to stop the mining and she was successful. And it was all thanks to her schooling.

Shortly after returning home and calming down the town from digging at the mountain, she began to have problems. The townspeople thought of her too smart and she began to have problems with her family. Her family began to question everything she was doing. They were still worried for after all these years since she was 'kidnapped'. Cause when she had returned home, she had returned as a different person.

Finally she was able to get a job but not what she studied in and while one day she was at work, her mother had found her diary and the diary was everything about the Autobots and how she had went up to space to fight another person's war, an alien race at that. Her mother became furious with his new information and then began to demand answers the moment she came home from work. That evening and being so upset, she didn't even say bye to her friends Rad, Carlos, Fred or even Billy. She just packed up and left.

As she continued to walk in the dead of the night with hardly a car driving by and mostly on the opposite side of the highway, Alexis felt like her world had fallen apart. Her being only 23 and just ran away from home like a teenage child would, was not her idea of an adult life.

With her wearing a dark sweat suit and a light long coat to keep out and high winds that may dance across the highway, she kept on going, moving further away. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail so the wind wouldn't blow her hair all over the place. When her hair was down it would reach down to the middle of her back. She also had her hair up so it wouldn't get caught up in the backpack she wore.

Finally Alexis could hear an oncoming car. It was the first car in well over an hour and walking in the dead of the night was beginning to tire her out. Of course she hadn't had anything to eat or drink since before leaving. And that was over three hours prior.

She stuck her thumb out to the oncoming headlights. The headlights were so bright that she had to cover her eyes. She couldn't tell what type of vehicle it was but she could tell that it had a diesel engine. To her surprise the vehicle stopped in front on her and the passenger door opened.

From the bright headlights, she could not tell what the colors of the vehicle was but she did note that it was a transport and she was able to make out that the transport was pulling it's trailer.

"Where are you heading?" he asked.

"Anywhere that takes me away from the town I just left," she answered, not paying attention to the sound of the man.

"I can take you as far as I'm going, which is the next town."

"That will do." Alexis pulled her backpack off her shoulders before climbing in. Once in and the door was closed, she suddenly felt the fatigue hit her like a ton of bricks. "Thank you."

"Your welcome," he said. "So what's a pretty girl like yourself doing way out here?"

"It's a long story and frankly something I don't want to get into." Alexis tried to look around in the cab, but it was just too dark to see anything. She leaned her head back, beginning to wonder if she made the right choice in finding refuge in the truck. She kept her breathing evenly as the truck continued on down the road.

"You seem tired," he finally said after a several moments of silence.

"I'm just tired of having to deal with my family. I'm 23 years old and they still treat me like I'm 13." She suddenly leaned forward, realizing what she said. She guessed the driver noticed this as well for he slowed down.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered. "I'm fine." From her leaning forward, she finally realized where she was and what she was doing. She was driving in a darkened truck with a strange man. She began to feel frightened and her body started to tremble.

The man must have noticed this as he pulled over to the side of the road. "I'm not going to hurt you. You are safe in here."

Alexis whipped her head towards the drivers seat, expecting to see the driver advancing her but she was quickly thrown off guard. She gasped in fright. From the headlights she was able to see enough into the cab of the truck to take note the drivers seat was empty.

"What the hell is going on?" she shook in fright.

"You are safe," a voice whispered.

Alexis looked everywhere to find where the voice was coming from but she couldn't find anything. But something was slightly off, the voice slightly sound familiar.

"I don't understand," Alexis whispered, visibly shaken.

"Please just trust me, Alexis."

"Alex…how do know my…" Alexis was quickly getting confused. Finally something snapped. What kind of vehicle that could drive itself that was a transport?

She gasped again. "Op…Optimus?"

Suddenly a light came on in the cab. Alexis had to blink several times to allow her eyes adjust to the light. Once they finally did, she looked around the cab to see everything was too familiar to her. Even though she hadn't seen the interior for 10 years.

Tears sprang from her eyes as she realized what was finally going on. "Optimus," she whispered. She leapt forward and hugged the steering wheel. "It's really you."

"It is," he said softly.

With blurred vision, she lifted her head to see the faction symbol in the center, where the horn was, of the alien creatures she so missed. Her fingers came up and she lightly brushed over the symbol. "I don't understand," she whispered again.

"I can't very well drive with you on my steering wheel," he lightly chuckled.

Alexis snapped her head up and realized she sitting in the drivers seat. She slightly blushed and pushed over to the passenger side again. "Sorry."

She felt herself relax as she felt the vehicle pulled back on the highway.

"Perhaps you can tell me now, now that you know I'm not a stranger who may want to take advantage of you, of why you are hitch hiking."

Tears welled in her eyes again. "Oh Optimus. My family is very upset with me because I lied to them. They had found my diary."

"What did they find?"

"Well we agreed that we would come up with a cover story of being kidnapped and we escaped. I guess my Mom found my diary, which talks about my adventures from being on Planet Cybertron. I couldn't handle my parents bitching at me for something that happened a long time ago.

"I know keeping a diary was wrong, but I wanted to have something to remember you guys by and we haven't heard from the Autobots for ten years."

"It has taken us longer to rebuild Cybertron as there are still many Transformers who are still uneasy about working side by side with the Decepticons."

"Wait a minute," Alexis said, raising her hands up and sitting forward. "You had disappeared right when Unicron was sucked into himself. Hotshot listed you as MIA."

Optimus chuckled. "Yes that I was. Five years ago, thanks to Jetfire, I was found. From floating in space for so long, he found me offline. It took the combination work of Red Alert and Ratchet to get me back online and that took two human years."

"Oh." Alexis leaned back in her seat and slowly began to close her eyes, which were until she felt the truck move. "Where are we going?"

"Home."

"I have nothing back there," she tried to glare, but a yawn prevented her from doing so.

"Alexis you have people who love you and friends who miss you. That's why I'm here. Shortly after you left the town, Rad had seen our arrival. He was just about to contact you when your mother called him in a panic. We went out looking for you. Speaking of which…" he paused. "Prime to Autobots."

"Go ahead," a voice came through the comlink.

"You can call off the search. I found her. On my way back now…ETA, twenty minutes."

"Roger that."

"Please don't make me go back there," she pleaded.

"Alexis, too many people would miss you. Not to mention you would have us worried like there is no tomorrow. I'm sure we can figure something out to ease your parents."

Alexis jumped when she felt something touch her hand. She snapped her head towards the driver's side to see someone was now sitting beside her. Alexis looked fearful again.

The figure turned to her. "Do not be alarmed," it said with Optimus' voice. "Thanks to Hound and a few other Autobots, every Autobot is now equipped with a holo generator. We now can produce a life like hologram. There are a few Decepticons who have as well but not many."

"I'm not sure I follow," she said hesitantly.

The man…hologram tightly held her hand and turned back to the road being able to see the lights of the town in the distance. "You will see soon enough. When we get back home."

-

The moment she climbed out of the cab of Optimus, her friends bombarded her. Rad had pulled her in a tight hug and didn't really want to let her go. When he finally let her go and moved out of the way, she saw vehicle forms of most of her friends; Blurr, Red Alert, Sideswipe, Hotshot and Hoist.

As she stared at them, she noted there were strange men, leaning against the hoods of her friends. With seeing a holoform of Optimus, she guessed the men were her friends in holoforms.

Rad saw her confusion and slightly smiled. "Alexis they are our friends just in hologram form. It was quite a shock for me too."

"Hey," Fred whined. "Don't forget the rest of us. My wife is going to kill me if I don't head home soon."

"Did you want a drive into town?" the one who leaned against Blurr, asked. Alexis recognized the voice as Blurr. She gave the hologram a good looking over seeing that he was somewhat tall. She couldn't tell if he was wearing black jeans or just black pants but she note he wore a dark blue T-shirt. He had his long dark hair pulled back in a neat ponytail. His whole look make him look regal. Even his redish eyes gave him the mysterious look.

"No," Fred said as he turned to the man. "That's ok. I have my own wheels."

Blurr holoform smiled. "I keep forgetting you are no longer under age."

Billy and Fred chuckled.

"Fred," Billy said. "You mind giving me a lift down the mountain. I got to get to bed, work starts early."

The two young men left, leaving the Autobots, Rad, Carlos and Alexis. Alexis watched as the holoform of Hotshot walked over to her and quickly pulled her in a tight embrace.

"I've missed you," he said.

Alexis looked at him and took note of his butter blond hair. He was slightly taller than Alexis. She noted that he had the prettiest blue eyes. His clothes slightly matched his paint job on his armor, yellow and redish orange.

"Is that you Hotshot?" she asked.

He smiled. "You bet. And thanks to Optimus, he has agreed for us to remain here to watch over Earth in case of any problems. There are still grudges between the Autobots and Decepticons. Well I better head off towards the command center."

Alexis jumped as the hologram disappeared with a blink of an eye. She watched in surprise as Hotshot transformed and walked away. The other three holograms had clothing much like their paint jobs. Hoist was the shortest. The one who leaned against Sideswipe was wearing blue jeans and blue shirt. He had short black hair and yellow eyes. Red Alert's hologram reminded her of a doctor. He wore a lab coat wearing gray casual pants and blue shirt. She noted both Hoist and Red Alert had redish eyes. She soon watched as the other holograms also disappeared and they transformed and walked out.

Rad walked back over to Alexis and looked at the holoform of Optimus who was standing directly behind her. "Optimus what about Alexis' parents?"

"I've already informed them that she has been found and will be staying at a friend's house tonight before going back home tomorrow."

Alexis turned as she jerked her head from hearing the voice near her ear. She had to look up a bit as she saw Optimus' holoform. The holoform stared down at her. She was able to note that he was taller than her, in fact taller than Hotshot's hologram. He was wearing dark casual pants and cream-colored shirt. His hair was an auburn color but nicely cut. He had the strangest yellow blue eyes.

"Optimus, would you mind if we head out?" Carlos asked. "Like Fred said. His work day starts early and we all have either jobs or loved ones to head home to."

Optimus finally glanced up and looked at the African American man. He nodded. "Of course. I suppose now that you are adults, seeing you won't be as easy."

Rad shook his head. "No, I'm afraid. But we'll come and visit as often as we can. Maybe you guys can meet our families now that you have the holoforms."

"That would be so awesome. If we can take a moment and revert back time and just have some fun," Carlos smiled. "But that will have to be another day."

Alexis turned again, this time to watch as her oldest and dearest friends left. She continued to watch even after they disappeared and were long gone for several minutes. She was brought out of her trance when a large warm hand rested on her shoulder. She slowly turned to the holoform.

"You're not alone," he said quietly. "Come, let's take a drive."

"Where?"

"Somewhere where we can talk without being disturbed."

Not wanting to argue with the man…er…Autobot, she silently nodded and crawled back into the truck, as the door was still opened. The hologram disappeared and Optimus began to drive towards the exit. Being as large as he was with his trailer, he had to back up until he was finally able to turn around. The corridor he was in wasn't large enough for him to turn in vehicle form.

When he was finally out in the night air, he moved towards the road that would lead him to the top of the mountain. Once at the top, he stopped and opened the door for Alexis to get out. Once she was out, she turned to look at her robot friend, but he didn't transform. He was slightly amused when she gave him an odd look as he didn't transform as he normally would. Instead he activated his hologram and walked over to her.

He stared at her, taking in her features. He enjoyed seeing her as a young teen but now she was all grown she was more attractive.

"Alexis," he said quietly. "Please don't run away. We can work something out. I know the troubles you've been having since returning home from university."

Alexis turned away, not wanting to look at the handsome features on the hologram. "I suppose Rad told you."

Optimus took a step closer, gently resting his hands on her shoulders. "Yes," he nodded. "And it was really brave of you to protect the base. You risked much to protect us even when we are not here."

"Why did you return after all this time?" she asked with sadness in her voice.

Optimus signed. "We've missed you guys too much. Hotshot and Sideswipe would sometimes whine about how much they missed Earth. So when I had decided to finally take a trip, they were the first two to jump at the chance. Red Alert will be staying as well as chief medical officer."

Alexis turned quickly. "What about you?"

"That would depend on you," he said with sincerity.

"Why me?" she asked, taken aback.

The holoform of Optimus stared in her eyes, losing himself in their depths. Before he realized what he was doing, he soon pulled her to close to him in an embrace. "I've missed you," he said. Unconsciously his fingers found their way to her hair and soon pulled out the clip, which was holding the hair in the ponytail.

Alexis gasped when he pulled her close but gave an inaudible gasp as she felt her hair fall down her back, some strands blowing in the slight breeze.

Optimus watched carefully as her hair fell around her back, completely covering his arms. "You've grown much since we've left."

Tears pricked at her eyes again, as he began to lightly caress her hair. "What more was there for me to do with you guys gone? I still miss Starscream but I know now he died to protect all of us. But I couldn't allow my grief for him or for you to cloud my judgment. I would have wound up in the nut house."

Optimus pulled her away far enough so he could look at her. His thumbs began to brush her tears that snuck out from her eyes. "I'm alive and here now."

"Optimus?" she questioned softly. "Why does it depend on me if you stay or leave?"

Optimus seemed to have taken a deep breath. "I felt bad for you the day Starscream sacrificed himself and my spark went out to you when you for mourned him. Hotshot told me you felt just as sad when I vanished. And I was wondering what your feelings are for me."

"My feelings for you?" she inquired. "You're my friend. Can't a friend miss another?"

"Yes," he answered. "But I feel there is something deeper."

"I'm not sure what you mean."

Optimus sighed and slowly blinked. "Alexis, I have a personal question for you. And I would like an honest answer, please. Are you tied down?"

She cocked her head. "Tied down?"

"I mean do you have what Fred does?"

"You mean do I have a boyfriend?" She watched as he nodded. "I did, but he left me when I told him I was coming back here. Stupid jerk," she glared at the memory. "To me, he was acting very selfish. He wanted me to forget this town and my friends who don't really live here. Of course, I knew I couldn't tell him that my friends were actually giant fifty foot intelligent robots from another planet, which I had the pleasure of visiting. He probably would have had a cow."

Optimus chuckled at her quick description of the Transformers. "Yeah, we are quite large."

"Why do you ask if I was attached to someone?"

Optimus' fingers traced down her face until one hand gentle cupped her chin. "Because," he breathed, "I have a confession to make. I came here because of you."

Alexis' heart began to beat a little faster as his fingers slid down her face. Though they were a hologram, the fingers felt real. They even were warm to the touch, just like a regular human. Of course, the softness of his voice was beginning to make her tremble and afraid all at once. She was afraid of what he was going to say but at the same time nervous that he would pull away and leave her there.

"Alexis…" he breathed.

Her eyes widened as she saw his face draw closer to hers. What was he doing? She quickly found her answer when his holographic lips touched hers. Alexis nearly doubled over, as his lips were soft on hers. She hardly could breath and with an involuntary force, her eyes closed.

He moved slightly away to see her reaction. His holographic breath brushed against her face. He could feel her body tremble. His hands moved down to her waist to put a secure hold on her as he continued to stare at her flushing face, eyes still closed.

After several moments, she slowly opened her eyes. When he moved away from her, she could feel his breath, but she was afraid to open her eyes in case it was all a dream. She looked at the holographic man, holding her.

"I don't…understand…" she stuttered.

A soft smile appeared slowly on his lips. "My dear Alexis, I've missed you so much. You have done so much for us to protect us and I never once properly thanked you."

"What was that for?" she finally managed to get out without stuttering this time.

He understood her question. "Gratitude, a thank you, but most of all…" He closed that small distance again, this time wrapping his arms around her back, pulling her closer.

Alexis would have gasped if it weren't for the fact her lips were completed crushed against his. His kiss was so gentle; she felt her knees would give out. Her eyes closed as she gave into the desire. The desire to be held, a desire to be comforted but most of all she had a desire to be kissed.

From the time Starscream had become an Autobot, no matter if it was only temporarily, she began to wonder what it would be like to kiss a robot. She knew at the time it was only some childish fantasy, something that would never come true, but now here she was kissing a robot. Even it wasn't a robot's lips but it was still his mind, memories, and thoughts.

She began to respond to the kiss, in which she felt the Autobot jolt, as he wasn't expecting her to respond. But he soon got over it and continued to kiss her back. The moment his sensors realized she needed air, he backed away, but still kept a tight embrace around her back.

When he released her lips, she could feel her lips were swollen but she didn't care. She leaned her head against his chest. "Optimus," she breathed. "Why?"

Optimus collected his thoughts for several moments before answering. "I'm not sure why. All I know is I love you and have since before I went missing." He arched his back so he could look at Alexis in the eyes. To be sure she would look at him, his hands wound their way back to her face and kept a firm but gentle hold on her. "I love you," he said again. "I didn't think I could ever love again. All you have to do is say the word."

She stared at him for several minutes, trying to figure out what his meaning was. She wasn't a child, so she knew she had nothing to worry about or no one to tell her otherwise. She was a woman who could make her own decisions. When she realized what he was asking, she wasn't sure if she could keep her heart thumping into her throat.

"Optimus…" she finally said in a whisper. She needed him and she knew that. Out of all the Autobots she had missed Hotshot and Optimus the most. Even though she missed Starscream, she knew her crush on him was a silly schoolgirl crush. He would always hold a special place in her heart, but she had to focus on the here and now.

"Please don't leave me again." Her last line was barely a whisper, afraid he would vanish right in front of her.

Optimus beamed in happiness. He quickly brought her face to his again in a stronger kiss than before. She totally melted against him. Her hands clutched the sleeves of his shirt, feeling the material, which even felt real. She kissed back with the same amount of passion as he had for her.

His hands after crushing her against him went right back to her back, pushing her as far as he could against his holographic body. He never knew kissing a human would be so exhilarating. He loved the feeling of it. He wished he could hold her with his true form, but he just as happy as holding her this way. At least he could feel her against him and he could see her at the same level.

He jumped when he felt something invade his mouth, but he soon found he rather enjoyed it when he realized it was Alexis pushing the kiss to a new limit, something he never experienced before. He soon responded to her and found a rhythm to follow. He couldn't believe she would do this, as he wasn't sure what her true feelings were, but he was sure, she would love him like he loved her. But he was soon thinking perhaps her love was closer to him than he originally thought.

Before long, the need to breath forced them apart, he saw that she was flushed, but that wasn't the only thing. He also noticed her eyelids were getting heavy.

"Come, my love," he said. "Let's get you inside so you may rest."

He watched as she nodded tiredly and tried her best to hold back a yawn. He helped her back in the truck and as soon as she was secured, his hologram disappeared and he made his way back to the base. He continued driving, through the base, until he reached his quarters, where he had to activate his hologram once again as Alexis had fallen asleep in his cab.

He gently pulled her out and holding her bridal style, head leaning against his shoulder, he walked into his quarters and laid her down on a soft mattress. The mattress was moved into there earlier when he had first learnt Alexis had ran away. He moved it into there so he could keep an eye on her in case she was to leave again. When she was snuggled into the mattress, he lightly kissed her forehead.

"Sleep my love," he whispered. He brushed her bangs out of her eyes before deactivating his hologram. He had finally transformed and walked into the room. He laid down on his stone slab of a bed and watched her until he finally fell asleep.


End file.
